He wills?” The answer is that the phrase “by His leave” is linked to His words “those who pursue,” meaning: whoever follows His good pleasure does so only with His permission, for no human being is autonomous in his deeds or opinions—he can act only by Allah’s permission.

As for His words, “and He guides them to a straight path,” this is an instance of attributive coordination, for the statement “Allah guides with it those who pursue His pleasure to the paths of peace” conveys the same meaning as “and He guides them to a straight path,” except that the first guidance may be understood as the guidance of enabling (hidāyat al-tawfīq) and the second as the guidance of instruction (hidāyat al-dalāla). Accordingly, the second clause is made transitive with the preposition “to,” whereas the first takes its object directly. The meaning, then, is that whoever is guided by Islam, Allah increases him in knowledge, as He says: “And those who are guided—He increases them in guidance” (Muhammad 17).

The Exalted also says: “Alif-Lām-Rā. A Book We have sent down to you so that you may bring humankind out of darknesses into the light—by the permission of their Lord—unto the path of the Mighty, the Praiseworthy, Allah, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth” (Ibrāhīm 1-2).

Explanation: This passage is almost the same as the first, yet it offers an additional benefit: it demonstrates the validity of attributing an act to its recognized cause. He says “so that you may bring out,” referring to you, even though the one who truly brings people out is Allah. Therefore He qualifies it with “by the permission of their Lord,” so that no one should imagine the cause to be independent. Attributing a matter to its known cause is permissible and undisputed; both the Sunnah and the Quran attest to this, provided the cause itself is known, whether